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BERBATOV RETURN

Dimitar Berbatov has returned to Spurs Lodge after picking up an injury in Bulgaria's Euro 2008 qualifier against Romania.

Dimitar Berbatov has returned to Spurs Lodge after picking up an injury in Bulgaria's Euro 2008 qualifier against Romania.

The striker suffered an adductor strain in the second half of the 2-2 draw in Constanta and will now miss his nation's clash with Slovenia on Wednesday. Martin Jol is hopeful the injury will not keep him out of our return to Premiership action against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.

"Unfortunately, Dimitar got injured in the Bulgaria match," reported Martin. "He has come back and cannot play in the next game for his country on Wednesday. He will have treatment here and will hopefully be fit for Saturday's game against Manchester United."

The manager will soon have to contend with the usual problem associated with international weeks in having just one full day to fine tune his team for the next domestic fixture.

"It was difficult, what with having the Everton result and then the players going off on international duty," he reflected. "Normally you would have your meetings and training sessions to get it out of your system, but they will be back on Thursday before we travel to Manchester.

"It is probably the hardest thing in this job when you get your players back and have only one day to prepare. It is the same for most teams though and we have to get on with it."

However, Martin is happy with the impact made by our players on the international front - with Jermain Defoe making the headlines in this country.

"When England scored two goals I was waiting for him to join in and he has now proved he can score goals at international level. Hopefully he will do the same against Macedonia because they are better than Andorra. I was pleased for him and our other players too.

"I saw the Republic of Ireland game against Germany and they did themselves proud. Our players were playing all over the place and it is good for them because they love playing for their national teams."